Chapter 2

Aditi

@desidillse

Present:

The nurse passed from the side of the father and daughter duo, who was eager to know that, how is their beloved Zoya, now.

Humeira stopped the nurse to questioned, “Nurse! How is my sister? Is she fine now? Kab tak hosh mein aayengi wo?”

“Relax! Doctor has bandaged the wounds and bruises, khoon behena band ho gaya hai. Haan par hosh aane mein abhi thoda time lagega”, she informed quickly and left in a second.

Humeira looked at her father who again consoled her beingbroken himself, “Shhh! Suna na nurse ne kaha khoon ruk gaya hai, which is agood thing. Haina”

The scared Humeira nodded her head positively, but Gaffur himself was worried for her daughter. He was concerned that when will she come to her conscious state, and how will he explain her about her husband’s demise.

He scrunched his brows and prayed to his allah, “Oh god!Please give me strength so I can explain her about-about Haider and consoled her”

Gaffur knew that if to handle Humeira wasn’t that easy then how difficult it will be going to make Zoya understand about everything and this was eating him up.

After an hour,

“Only one can be here at night sir with the patient”, the nurse informed to them.

Gaffur ordered Humeira to go home and take some rest atwhich she firstly denied but after Gaffur’s ordered she left, after taking a look at Zoya from the glass window.

Some childhood poems which both the sisters used to chant around their mother together started reciting in her ears. She closed her ears and ran to reach the home but the same time the nurse called them, “The patient is coming to her senses doctor”

And hearing this Humeira’s feet stopped by themselves and she requested her father to have a look at her sister, at which he allowed too.

Zoya was coming to her senses becoming restless, as some visuals from the accidents were palely resemble to her and the same time she being restless screamed, “Haider!!”

On the other side of the universe, Asad who was trying to gulp down his breakfast lost his control over the folk and it fells on the plate. It seemed to him that something is wrong in his surrounding, and this forced him to leave the breakfast at the same time.

“What has happened to Bhai, Ammi?”, Najma asked looking at Dilshad.

Dilshad being lost in something said, “Pata nahi, par kuchto ajeeb mujhe bhi lag raha hai”

“Jaise, main samjhi nahi”, Najma being innocent asked.

“Jaise aaspas kuch to hua hai, something wrong”, Dilshad replied while leaving the breakfast on the table. So as Najma left as she didn’t want to have it alone.

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In India, around at 2 of midnight Zoya screamed for Haider which scared Gaffur and Humeira even more.

Gaffur calmed her down and tried to make her understand,“Bacche abbu! Look at me. Calm down”, and he caressed her back.

She smiled widely, “Aap bhi mujhe surprise dene aaye hain mere – mere birthday ka haina”, she asked as if a child of 5 who was oblivious with everything asked and then looked at Humeira, “Humi! You are also here. I knew it Haider kabhi rokha sookha birthday nahi manate mera, humesha with family”, she smiled even more widely looking something but nothing.

Hearing her Humeira almost cried and ran outside the room to cry her heart out.

“Isko kya hua?”,  Zoya asked when she ranoutside.

Gaffur immediately handled the topic and said, “Nothing. She is just planning something”

“Par abbu….”, she looked around and then asked, “why are we at the hospital and she examined her wounds and touched them, “Aur ye bandage ye sab kaise?”

She was behaving as she has forgotten everything. Gaffur looked towards the doctor who indicated him to keep quiet. Whereas she looked with disguise at her father who couldn’t reply anything but the doctor handled it all, “Zoya this is nothing aap ko sone ki zarurat hai”

“Nahi. There is something. Haider and where is Haider I want to meet him now….now”, she screamed louder than loud and kept chant the name Haider.

When she became out of control and becoming more restless the doctor injected sleeping medicine in her glucose drip which after few minutes flew in her nerves and the slumber intoxicated her.

“What was that doctor? Zoya to so gayi”, Gaffur worried.

“She was getting restless islie zaruri tha…subah tak uthjaegi”, the doctor informed about the medicine and Gaffur nodded his head and the second question was coming from him but the doctor interrupted, “I know,what do you want to ask. Zoya actually shock mein hai gehre islie accident ke bare mein use yaad hai but she wants to forget it”

“Matlab….kya use Haider ke bare mein kuch yaad nahi”, Gaffur asked curiously.

Doctor licked his lips, “Use yaad hai but she don’t want to remember it, she is in utter shock.”

“Aur use is state se kaise nikal sakte hain”, he asked again.

“Sach bata ke, we want her to cry otherwise wo us shock mein hi reh jaegi”, he explained and continued to make the father understand,“Simply, humein use Haider ki condition hi batani hai, matlab uski dead body”,the doctor completed.

“But the body is not in the condition ke – ke Zoya use dekhe,it is all blood stained”, Gaffur almost objected.

He scratched his beard, “fir Zoya ko sach batana to aurmushkil hai Mr. Farrooqui”

Gaffur shut his eyes tightly and tears kissed his cheeks witnessing his daughter’s pain and he without any option nodded his head positively and agreed that whenever she will be in her senses, he himself will bring her to the morgue, near Haider.

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Past

“Ah Asad!”, whined Zoya when the doctor was injecting the pain killers in her veins so her leg got intoxicated and he can treat properly.

She held Asad’s hand tightly and whined again when the doctor applied antiseptic liquid on the wound and bandaged it.

Asad glared her a look, “Ssh! Ho gaya bas you are not a 6 year old child now”, and scolded her like a father.

“It is paining”, she made a gloomy face.

He mocked her and when she opened her mouth looking at him he smiled at which she was confused and asked, “What happen now?”

“See!”, he indicated towards her foot and said, “it is done”, with a smile on his face and she smiled too.

He scooped her up and settled her down on the wheelchair at which she whined again like a child, “I don’t want to sit like a patient on this chair”

“Then why were you troubling me as if you have so much pain”, he complained too but logically.

She made faces and settled on it, “Babbar Ahmed Khan”, she always used to call him by this name when he became ruthless in her opinion as his name was Asad, the lion.

He rolled his eyes and whined fake when he was moving the wheelchair, “Asad!”

“Kya hua”, he immediately ran to check what has happened to her at which she laughed and he who was scared that something has happened to her due to his carelessness, shrugged his neck, “Nahi sudhregi na”

“In your company? Never”, she questioned and answer at the same time and giggled.


Her giggle forced him to laugh with her, at her childishness and lively behavior.

Present:

Asad laughed remembering this incident, the way how she used to whine to tease him and her cheerful laughter. But the same time a soft touch on his shoulder disturbed him from his trances and took him to his senses.

He looked behind as he knew who the person will be, her mother, Dilshad Ahmed Khan, who always knows from what he struggles.

“Ammi aap!”, he looked at her and she handed over a black mug of coffee and sat on the bed besides him.

“Kyu? Ammi nahi aa sakti”, she asked looking at him.

He smiled palely and replied before having a sip of coffee,“Aisa nahi hai Ammi”

“Then? How is it?”, she asked and continued before he could answer and answered herself in his words, “Wo main bas kuch soch raha thaislie, idea nahi tha that you will be here”, and finished herself in her own words, “Haina! Is it like that?”

“Hmm!”, he just hummed while having a sip of coffee.

She smiled and looked at the photograph hung on the wall.She immediately gets off it from the wall. It was Asad and Zoya’s childhoodpicture in which they were on the see-saw. Asad on the upper hand and Zoya, thechubby one was on the lower one.

“Lovely photograph na!”, she asked him to know what wasgoing on in his mind.

He smiled and nodded his head positively and she continued,“Ab batao kyu akele has rahe the? Uski kaunsi baat yaad aa gayi?”

He took the photo from her and said, “Life is like a see-saw right. She was weighted which means best still not famous and unknown”

“What do you want to say?”, she wanted to know her wholeheartedly.

“I always wanted to come here, in the California, to become the best not because of competition but to settle you and Najma and she, she was always grounded being best”, he said as he was lost in something and continued, “humari life bilkul is see-saw jaisi rahi I wanted to be here always but not happy, and she-she is happy with him being unknown, happy with Haider”,he completed with moist eyes.

“Fir bhi jane kyu aaj aisa lag raha hai jaise jaise kuchthik nahi hai….I don’t know why”, he questioned her which she couldn’t answer but all she knew was he was happy in her happiness.

Saying this, Asad left for the office, leaving the worried Dilshad alone with loads of questions.

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In the morning,

The restless Zoya was waking up, chanting her husband Haider’s name and being so nostalgic, Gaffur was all awake the whole night in the concern of his daughter.

When she was chanting Haider’s name, he immediately and quickly pressed the bell to call the nurse or the attendant from the staff, who witnessed her being restless and waking up, shrugging her neck on the either sides of the pillow.

“Haider! Why are you? Haider”, only this was coming out from her lips murmuring and after being so restless she shrugged herself and woke up with a jerk.

“Haider!”, she screamed so loud that the doctor couldn’t be able to calm her down, so as per the advice given by him in the night, Gaffur calmed her daughter and told, “Sshh! I am here”

“Abbu”, she smiled again and looked for Haider, here and there.

She finally decided to ask her father about her husband again, just like the night, “Where is…where is Haider abbu?”, she calmly asked this time as she was sure that her father will tell her everything and continued herself looking at her hospital uniform, wounds and the surrounding,“Why are we here? Tell me, ye sab kaise hua”

Gaffur with moist eyes tried to grab his strength so he can console his daughter and said, “Come. Lets meet Hai-Haider”, and he stuttered at the end.

“Really, chaliye”, she jumped from the bed as she wanted to meet him soon.

They walked towards the dark area which belonged to the morgue where even the noise of pin was echoing, there is asked, “Hum kaha jarahe hain? Mujhe dar lag raha hai”, saying this she held her father’s arm tightly and then they finally reached the morgue.

 The dark room, where the dead bodies were draped in the crisp white cloth, and they reached to the bed where Haider was lying.

She giggled a little being oblivious as per her nature, “Haha! Abbu aap kab se mazak karne lage? Where are we?”, listening this from her, the father become even more nostalgic, his turmoil was blaming him that why were he giving pain to this extent to her own daughter, but he knew that this pain was nothing in comparison of the pain she could get if she would not accept the truth. He has to do this, anyhow.

He wiped his tear hiding from her and ordered while chocking, “uncover the face”

“Abbu. Aapko pata hai mujhe dar lagta hai”, she complained like a child.

“I said uncover it”, he ordered again and she obeyed too while closing her eyes and when she opened her eyes she found bruised and wounded Haider, all stained with blood, closing his eyes as he was sleeping along slumber.

She remained stunned, numb for a while and then reacted. She wiped the blood stains carefully with her sleeves and looked at him with a smile. The smile was so innocent that she didn’t even cried, as nothing has happened. She kissed his forehead and eyes and smiled even more widened.

“Zoya!”, Gaffur said and shrugged her.

But she didn’t reacted to her father but was looking at him,smilingly.

The doctor was amazed that why this girl wasn’t crying.

Gaffur shook her holding her elbow and screamed, “He is Haider, your husband, he has died cry for god’s sake Zoya”, but she immediately shushed him, “Shh! Aise nahi bolte abbu, see how peacefully he is sleeping”

Gaffur was numb, he shook her again and face her at himself,“Look at him Zoya, look at his condition, you both had an accident, in which he has died….do you know what it means”, he yelled it even more loud and shrugged but she didn’t cried.

“Don’t say it again and again, it is a sin”, she screamed at her father.

He licked his lips cupped her face, “Zoya my child, your husband is no more. Accept it, touch him and…”, but she intervene and screamed,“Enough!”

And this time the option less Gaffur slapped her tightly and shrugged Haider’s body which didn’t react, she too did the same, “Haider… getup dekho abbu kuch bhi bole ja rahe hain”

“Get up I said”, she jerked him once, twice, thrice but he didn't get up and she held her hand but being lifeless body it fell down on the bed and she remained amused, lifeless like an autumn leave and destined her knees on the floor.

She cried and her head was resting on his body, “Haider”,she ultimately screamed out loud and cried and cried.

Whereas, on the other side of universe, Asad who was sleeping restlessly, woke up screaming, “Zoya!”

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A/N: Dedicated to all my readers and friends. Please leave comment and hit like. Plus for the regular PMs buddy AditiFantasy

Happy Diwali in advance

Aditi